– The Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers, 6-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden, and are now 6-2-1 in their last nine games. The six goals tied the Rangers’ season-high.

– The Blueshirts improved to 22-17-4 (48 pts) overall, including a 14-6-2 mark at home this season.

– New York has now recorded a point in nine of their last 11 home games (8-2-1).

– The Rangers have won nine of their last 13 games against the Panthers, having out-scored Florida, 38-20, over the span.

– The Rangers notched two goals in four power play opportunities (5:20), and are now 7-29 (24.1%) in the last eight games, compared to 14.3% with the man advantage prior to the trade deadline.

– The Blueshirts held the Panthers scoreless in one power play attempt (2:00), and are now 21-23 (91.3%) in the last nine games. New York has registered a point in 17 of 21 games (15-4-2) when not allowing a power play goal.

– New York has posted a combined record of 6-4-1 in back-to-back games, including a 4-1-1 (3-0-0 at home; 1-1-1 on the road) record in the first game.

– The Rangers have posted a record of 24-6-3 in their last 33 games against Southeast Division opponents, including a 9-3-1 mark against the Southeast Division this season. The Blueshirts have out-scored their Southeast Division opponents, 108-66, over the span.

– The Blueshirts have registered a point in 89 consecutive games when leading after the second period, dating back to the 2009-10 season, posting a record of 83-0-6 over the span. The Rangers’ last regulation loss in a game when entering the third with the lead was Feb. 4, 2010 (6-5 loss vs. WSH). New York is 13-0-0 when leading after the second period this season.

Player Notes:

– Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves to improve to 20-15-3 overall, including a 14-6-1 mark at home this season. He has allowed two or fewer goals in 13 of his last 15 games (9-4-2, 1.71 GAA, .937 Sv%, 1 SO over the span), and is 4-4-1 with a 2.09 GAA and .942 Sv% in nine games with 30+ saves this season.

– Rick Nash registered three points, including a power play goal and two assists (one on the power play), and logged 18:05 of ice time. He has tallied 10 points (six goals, four assists) in nine April games, and now leads the team in scoring with 38 points (18 goals, 20 assists) on the season.

– Derick Brassard notched two goals, including one on the power play, and three shots in 18:34 of ice time. He has now registered 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his last 10 games, including nine points (three goals, six assists) in eight games as a Ranger.

– Mats Zuccarello notched two goals, tied for the game-high with five shots, was credited with two hits and two blocked shots, and posted a plus-two rating in 14:58 of ice time. He has now registered three goals in the last two games.

– Ryan Callahan recorded two power play assists, led all skaters with five hits and three blocked shots, and led all forwards with 22:45 of ice time while skating in his 400th career NHL contest. He has now tallied eight points (two goals, six assists) in the last nine games. Prior to the start of tonight’s contest, Callahan was named recipient of the Steven McDonald Award for the fourth time in the last five years.

– Brad Richards registered a goal, added an assist, and posted a plus-two rating in 14:26 of ice time. He has recorded eight points (three goals, five assists) in the last eight home games, and now ranks third on the team with 18 assists on the season.

– Derek Stepan tallied a power play assist and logged 20:46 of ice time. He has registered 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in the last 25 games, including 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the last nine contests.

– Ryane Clowe registered an assist, was credited with three hits, and posted a plus-two rating in 20:29 of ice time. He has now tallied 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his last 16 games, including five points (two goals, three assists) in eight games as a Ranger.

– Ryan McDonagh recorded an assist, was credited with two hits, and logged 22:49 of ice time. He has registered five points (two goals, three assists) in his last nine games, including a point in each of the last four home games (two goals, three assists over the span). The Rangers improved to 10-1-1 when he records a point.

– Michael Del Zotto tallied an assist and two shots on goal in 23:00 of ice time. He has recorded two assists in the last three games.

– Taylor Pyatt registered an assist and logged 10:21 of ice time in the contest. He is now two games shy of his 800th career NHL game.

Post-Game Quotes:

– John Tortorella on the Steven McDonald Award… “Everyone loves listening to [Steven McDonald]. We have so much respect for him and what he’s done and gone through. Now his family sees their son in uniform. I’ve had conversations with him on the phone. I’ll speak for myself; he inspires me. I’m always anxious to hear what he has to say before the game when he comes out there. It was good to see him. Cally (Ryan Callahan) wins another one, but I think Step (Derek Stepan) is pretty close there. I love Cally but I think he’s getting pretty close there.”

– Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game… “I thought it was a big battle the whole game and then the last five minutes we had an explosion. The first 50 minutes was a tough game for us. We had to work very hard and the special teams played really well. It’s always good to see guys score goals.”

– Derick Brassard on tonight’s game… “It was huge for us to score the first two goals on the power play. We have been struggling, so to score the first goal in the game means a lot. We just made plays tonight. We played a fast game and we just executed and guys finished. It’s a big win and a big two points for us.”

Team Schedule:

– The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow, Apr. 19, at First Niagara Center (7:00 p.m. – TV: MSG Network; Radio: ESPN 98.7), to complete a back-to-back set.

Kinda moot point now, but…
if they Rangers and Jets had somehow finished tied in points and ROW, then it would have gone to the goal differential tiebreaker. The Rangers would have caught a break in that they had 2 home games to Winnipeg’s one head-to-head. The first home game gets thrown out, and the Rangers lost that one…tied 1-1 per the tie breaker rules.